Soulmates
by Madelynne Rabb
Summary: Completed! A recurring series of dreams forces Mac to answer a fatal question. This is my first FF.net post! Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: CBS, Paramount, & the brilliant (I'm not worthy,  
  
I'm not  
  
worthy...) Donald P. Bellisario (not me) own JAG, the sexy Harmon  
  
Rabb, Jr., the awesomely cool Sarah MacKenzie and all their friends  
  
and coworkers. I only wish I owned them. Then Gumby and Video Twit  
  
would have been gone long ago. So, should any of TPTB see this, I  
  
hope you like it, and please don't sue me.  
  
Thanks to: Dear Sister Jackie (that makes you sound like a nun), you  
  
are my best friend and my psychic sister, and I love ya even though  
  
we haven't met yet. I'm counting the days 'til Feb.! Thank  
  
you also  
  
to everyone who read the "original" and told me you liked it. Also,  
  
thanks to all who beta read for me. I couldn't have done it without  
  
you.  
  
Author's notes: **Some of you may have read this before, but I  
  
thought it could have been better, so I rewrote it for an English  
  
project...oops. No one was supposed to know that. (Let's just  
  
keep it  
  
a little secret. Mr. Ovalle, you never saw this.) I might rewrite the  
  
others, but let's see how quickly Ovalle catches on. **I realize that  
  
some things have happened since this story was first "published," but  
  
I have tried to keep the story the way it was before all of that.  
  
~~~~~~  
  
MAY 18, 1776  
  
WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA  
  
"Edward, it has been three months since you asked for my hand in  
  
marriage. After much consideration, I have decided to marry you,"  
  
Felicity Davidson told Edward Smythe.  
  
Just then, William Merriman ran over to the couple. "Felicity, I love  
  
you. I now know that I have always loved you. Please, marry me."  
  
Edward replied, "I'm sorry, Will, she just said she'd marry me."  
  
William walked away. "Felicity, be happy." As he spoke, a horse,  
  
pulling a cart, became spooked and reared up, then broke free from  
  
the cart. William was caught under the horse's front hooves as it  
  
began to run, and he was shoved to the ground. Felicity managed to  
  
calm the horse. When she saw William motionless on the ground, she  
  
screamed and ran to where he lay. She kneeled next to him. Fighting  
  
to speak, William said, "I love you, Felicity."  
  
"I love you, too, William." Felicity leaned over to kiss him. When  
  
she raised her head, William was dead. Felicity allowed Edward to  
  
lead her away.  
  
~~~~~~  
  
0530 ROMEO  
  
SARAH MACKENZIE'S APARTMENT  
  
GEORGETOWN  
  
Mac woke with a start. Jingo was still asleep at the foot of Mac's  
  
bed, unaware of his mistress' fright. It was all so real, she  
  
thought. And it was so scary. Once her fear had subsided, she shook  
  
Jingo awake. "Come on, let's go for a run and think about something  
  
else for a while." She changed into some sweats and put Jingo on a  
  
leash.  
  
~~~~~  
  
0745 ROMEO  
  
JAG HEADQUARTERS  
  
FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA  
  
"Hi, Mac," Harm called as he walked into Mac's office. Mac looked up,  
  
her face pale, as if she had seen a ghost. "What's wrong?" he asked,  
  
concerned. "Are you okay?"  
  
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Mac answered. "Just give me a second." She  
  
looked at Harm. The eyes--she had seen them in her dream. But the  
  
navy commander that stood before her was different from the  
  
revolutionary patriot that she had seen only hours ago. She took a  
  
deep breath. "So do you need the folder from the O'Connor  
  
investigation?"  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
1649 ROMEO  
  
"Mac, can you come in here a second?" Harm asked as Mac walked by his  
  
office.  
  
"Sure. What's up?"  
  
"Could you come over tomorrow? I think we need to go over some things  
  
before this case starts. Is lunchtime okay? I'll get us a pizza."  
  
"Sure," Mac replied, somewhat warily. She had been a little on edge  
  
every time she saw Harm. But maybe tomorrow will be better, she  
  
thought. "What time? How's eleven?" she asked.  
  
"Great!" Harm answered. "See you then."  
  
~~~~~~  
  
MAY 1794  
  
PARIS, FRANCE  
  
"Oh, Louis!" Marie Nicole sobbed. "Why Jean-Luc?"  
  
"Marie Nicole, don't worry about Jean-Luc." He will be fine," Louis  
  
told her as he led his new fiancee down the path, toward the town  
  
square. He turned to cup her chin in his hand. As Marie Nicole looked  
  
up, she saw it. The guillotine.  
  
A tall, dark-haired man was being led to the tower. It would be the last thing he saw, except for the jeering crowd. The executioner allowed the man to say one last thing. "Marie Nicole, my love, I love you!" he cried, and anything else Jean-Luc might have said was silenced forever by the massive silver blade.  
  
~~~~~~  
  
1100 ROMEO  
  
HARM'S APARTMENT  
  
NORTH OF UNION STATION  
  
A knock on the door alerted Harm to Mac's arrival. He crossed the  
  
room to open the door, and Mac stood there in the doorway, examining  
  
her fingernails.  
  
"Hello," Harm said warmly.  
  
Mac looked up from her nails and drew her breath in sharply at the  
  
sight of Harm's face. "Jean-," she started. "Hello." All morning she  
  
had tried to forget the dream. All of that failed when she saw Harm's  
  
face.  
  
"Come in. Sit down." Harm told her. "I got us a pizza; it's on its  
  
way. And I remembered to get half vegetarian, half meat lover's." He  
  
smiled. "Do you want to start now, or wait until the pizza gets  
  
here?" Harm finished as he pulled the case marked "O'Connor" out of his  
  
desk, unaware that Mac, seated on the couch, had closed her eyes and  
  
was talking to herself. Harm turned around. "Mac?"  
  
Mac opened her eyes. "What?"  
  
"Earth to Mac. Are you okay? Do you want to start now or do you want  
  
to wait until the pizza gets here?"  
  
"Oh. Let's wait until the pizza gets here. Food first, work later."  
  
"All right. How are you doing?" Harm asked as he tossed the O'Connor  
  
file on the coffee table and table and sat next to Mac.  
  
"I'm okay. Mic is coming back from Australia on Monday."  
  
Just then the doorbell rang. Harm got up and answered the door, paid  
  
the delivery boy, and walked to the island in the kitchen, where he  
  
set the pizza there. Mac joined Harm in the kitchen. "So what do you  
  
make of this case?" she asked.  
  
"Basically Lieutenant (j.g.) Joseph O'Connor was out for a drink at  
  
the Norfolk NAS O club. He apparently had a few too many. He tried to  
  
get into his car, but a buddy of his, a Lieutenant (j.g.) Kim  
  
Donnelley, tried to stop him, until O'Connor knocked Donnelley  
  
unconscious, then got into his car and drove around for a while until  
  
his car blindsided another. The passenger is fine in a sense, only a  
  
few lacerations, but the driver is in critical condition. She's got  
  
puncture wounds from the shattered glass, broken bones, and has lost  
  
a lot of blood. Some of the glass is pretty close to a few major  
  
organs."  
  
Mac took a bite of her pizza and chewed it thoughtfully. "Should we  
  
wait until we find out what happens to the driver? What's her name?"  
  
"Annette Greenberg."  
  
"OK. So, we wait until Greenberg's condition is set before we draw up  
  
charges?"  
  
"Yeah. Preliminaries are on Friday, so we can drive to the hospital  
  
to see her on Monday."  
  
"All right." Mac yawned.  
  
"You tired?"  
  
"Yeah. I haven't been sleeping too well lately.  
  
"Do you want to take a nap?"  
  
"No I'm fine." Mac answered as she yawned again and blinked her  
  
eyes. "Maybe I should go home, though."  
  
"Nonsense. You shouldn't be driving like this. Go take a nap. You can  
  
use my bed. You need your sleep."  
  
Mac relented. She really did need sleep. "Ok." Harm led her up to his  
  
room where she promptly fell asleep.  
  
***end part 1*** 


	2. Chapter 2

Soulmates (part II)  
For disclaimers, see part I  
  
1312 ROMEO  
HARM'S APARTMENT  
NORTH OF UNION STATION  
  
Harm was seated at his desk when, all of a sudden, he heard   
something. Harm looked over to his bedroom, where Mac was tossing and   
turning, and talking...more like screaming. "No...NO!!!!!!!" she   
cried. "Clark, I love you! Don't leave me! You can't die! NO!!!" Mac   
woke up and sat up, breathing heavily.  
  
"Mac, are you okay?" Harm sat on the bed as he asked that question   
for what seemed like the umpteenth time that weekend, his ice-blue   
eyes illustrating his concern. "Please, Mac, please tell me what's   
wrong. Maybe I can help. I'd like to help."  
  
"I'm fine," Mac replied for what seemed like the umpteenth time that   
weekend, her chocolate-brown eyes betraying her already shaken   
resolve. "Thank you for lunch. I owe you one." She walked over to the   
door and grabbed her purse. "I need to go."  
  
"Wait, Mac." By the time Harm had gotten to the door, Mac had reached   
the elevator. "Please stay."  
  
"No, Harm, I need to go. I'll see you on Monday." She stepped inside   
the open elevator and closed the door.  
  
~~~~~  
1416 ROMEO  
MAC'S APARTMENT  
GEORGETOWN  
  
"Hello, Lt. Commander Dunne's office?" Mac asked into her telephone.  
  
"Yes," came the receptionist's reply. "But Lieutenant Commander Dunne   
isn't here right now."  
  
"When will she be in?" Mac asked.  
  
"About four o'clock. Would you like to make an appointment?"  
  
"Yes, for as soon as possible."  
  
"Okay...name please?"  
  
"Lieutenant Colonel Sarah MacKenzie...capital M-a-c-capital K-e-n-z-i-  
e," Mac carefully spelled her name. "Sarah...with a 'h'...yes."  
  
"We can fit you in around four-fifteen. Can you make it over here by   
then?" the receptionist asked.  
  
"Yes, I can make it by then. Where exactly is her office?"  
  
"We're in Bethesda Naval Hospital," was the receptionist's   
reply. "There will be a directory leading you to the office."  
  
"Okay, I'll be there." Mac hung up the phone. I'd better leave right   
now, she thought, traffic was rough getting from Harm's. Who knows   
how bad it'll be now.  
  
~~~~~~  
1416 ROMEO  
LCDR DUNNE'S OFFICE  
BETHESDA NAVAL HOSPITAL, 12TH FLOOR  
BETHESDA, MARYLAND  
  
"So, Colonel, what seems to be the problem?" asked Lt. Commander   
Dunne, in a slight Irish brogue.  
  
"Well, I keep having these dreams. They're not the same, but sort of.   
They take place in different times, I mean, time periods. I'm in all   
of them, and so are my friend Harm and my boyfriend, Mic. Now, in   
real life, Mic asked me to marry him about three months ago. Back   
then I was a little relationship-phobic, so I didn't say yes right   
away. Anyway, in all of my dreams, I'm with Mic-only it's not Mic-and   
I tell him that I'll marry him. Almost immediately, Harm-only it's   
not Harm- runs up and tells me that he loves me and asks me to marry   
him, but I've already agreed to marry Mic, or whoever. So Harm, or   
whoever, walks away and is killed-once he was trampled by a horse,   
once he was guillotined during the French Revolution, and once I was   
a nurse during World War II and he was killed. Look, Commander, I   
need your help. This is really starting to scare me.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Why is this starting to scare you?"  
  
"I don't know. That's why it's so scary."  
  
"Could it be you possibly care for your friend?"  
  
"Of course I care for him. He's my most trusted confidante. He's my   
best friend."  
  
"And what about Mic. Do you care for him?"  
  
"Of course I care for him! He asked me to marry him, remember?"  
  
"Yes. Calm down, Colonel. I'm just trying to gather all the facts.   
Now, would you consider yourselves soulmates?"   
  
"Mic? I don't know. Define 'soulmate.'"  
  
"He comforts you in your worst times and celebrates with you in your   
best times. You run to him first when you have a problem or when you   
have good news. He truly makes you happy, like no one else can. Does   
Mic do that for you?"  
  
"Commander, I don't like this line of questioning."  
  
"I'm sorry. OK, have you slept through the dream yet?"  
  
"No. After Harm, or whoever, dies, I wake up."  
  
"Okay, Colonel. Do this: tonight, don't wake up. Try to sleep until   
some resolution has been reached. Also, I want you to think about   
something. Not too long ago, a colleague came up with a theory that   
our souls are immortal and leave a pattern through time. So,   
according to this theory, you know that famous photo of the sailor   
kissing the nurse after World War II?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"That couple could also have been Marc Antony and Cleopatra."  
  
"Oh. So you're saying that Edward, William and Felicity; Louis, Jean-  
Luc, and Marie Nicole; and John, Clark, and Lois are the souls of   
Mic, Harm and I?"  
  
"Possibly."  
  
"Strange."  
  
"Well, time's up for today. I have another appointment in about ten   
minutes."  
  
"Thank you for your time, Commander."  
  
"My pleasure. Sweet dreams!" Commander Dunne smiled.

***end part II***  



	3. Chapter 3

Soulmates Part 3  
For all disclaimers, see part one (message # 59297)  
  
MONDAY-0800 ROMEO  
JAG HEADQUARTERS  
FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA  
  
"Hi, Harm!" Mac called as she entered the galley and poured herself a cup of coffee.  
  
"Goodness, Mac, you sure are chipper this morning. Are you ready for our little trip?" Harm replied.  
  
"Yeah, I'm ready when you are, but I've got a lunch date with Mic at 11:30. He's back from a trip to Australia."  
  
"All right, then, are you ready to leave now?"  
  
"Yeah, just let me finish this coffee."  
  
"Just let me know when."  
  
1130 ROMEO  
MCMURPHY'S TAVERN  
WASHINGTON, DC  
  
"Mic, we need to talk."  
  
"Oh, no. You're breaking up with me, aren't you." Mic was already getting up from his seat.  
  
"Mic, sit down. That's not it at all. I have thought and thought about it, and I have decided to marry you." She took the diamond ring off of her right-hand ring finger and placed it on her left. "I love you, Mic," she said as she kissed him."  
  
SAME TIME  
JAG HEADQUARTERS  
FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA  
  
Harm sat in the courtyard, staring at his salad. He thought about what a fool he had been when it came to his feelings. Oh, how many times I have been so close, he thought. Well, not anymore. She's probably going to tell that Brumby she'll marry him. "Not if I can help it," she spoke aloud. With that, he jumped in his SUV and drove away from JAG toward Washington. Unbeknownst to him, a man in a blue sedan was watching.  
  
1215 ROMEO  
MCMURPHY'S TAVERN  
WASHINGTON, DC  
  
Harm blew into McMurphy's and hastily searched for Mac. He found her sitting with Mic in the back. He made his way toward them. "Sarah, I love you. I know now that I have always loved you. Please, marry me."  
  
"Sorry, mate," Mic interjected, not sounding the least bit sorry. "She just said she'd marry me." Harm looked down to see that the diamond ring was now sitting on her left-hand ring finger, lit up by the noontime sunlight.  
  
Harm looked away. "I hope you'll be very happy together. I'd better go." With that, he left.  
  
Mac felt her heart break in two. The sound it made in her mind was deafening, and it was all Mac could hear. She found herself following Harm out the door. "Harm! Harm, wait!" Harm paused as he stepped into his SUV, but he continued in and shut the door.  
  
For Mac, the next few seconds passed in slow motion. The ignition of Harm's car turned on, and the vehicle exploded in a small fireball.  
  
As Mac rushed over to her friend, the driver of the blue sedan watched the scene and smiled. It was a bit messy for him, Clark Palmer thought, but at last he had his victory over Harmon Rabb, Jr.  
  
"Harm? Can you hear me?" Mac asked as she knelt next to Harm and cradled his head in her lap. "Some call 911! Harm?"  
  
Harm lay in extremely searing pain. "Sarah?" he asked, his breathing ragged and labored. "Sarah?" He almost never called her Sarah, but now it seemed fitting.  
  
"Harm?"  
  
"I love you, Sarah." Harm coughed and sputtered. He could feel himself slipping away.  
  
Mac could see it, too, but she didn't want to believe it. "Hey, flyboy. Don't talk like that. The ambulance is on its way, and everything will be just fine."  
  
"Sarah, I'm not six. Not every time is everything just fine."  
  
"Don't talk like that. Harm, don't leave me here alone."  
  
"You won't be alone." He coughed. "You'll have Mic."  
  
"I don't want Mic. Harm, don't leave me."  
  
"I love you. Sarah." Harm truly loved her. He loved her eyes, her hair, her independent attitude, her everything, and in one day, he had lost it all.  
  
  
The ambulance arrived, and Mac asked if, as a close friend, she could ride along. Mic grabbed Mac's arm. "Mac, no. You'll only get hurt, and look at your bloody uniform." It was, indeed, covered in blood. "You need to go home and change."  
  
Mac broke her hand free and replied, "Mic, I'll change when I'm sure he will be fine. Engagement or no, Harm is by best friend. He's been there for me so many times. It's time to return the favor, even if it's for the last time." Mac climbed into the ambulance after the EMT's.  
  
  
In the ambulance, Mac took Harm's hand. Don't forget me, Harm's eyes pleaded.  
  
"To forget you would be like forgetting to breathe," Mac whispered.  
  
Harm closed his eyes. As the heart monitor beeped slowly, the line marking Harm's life turned into a straight line. Noticing this, the EMTs attempted desperately to revive the dying commander, but to no avail. An EMT looked at his watch. "Time of death, 12:20 PM."  
  
  
1345 ROMEO  
GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL  
WAITING ROOM  
WASHINGTON, DC  
  
Mac sat alone, wondering what had happened. Everything was a blur. Just then, Admiral Chegwidden, Bud and Harriet walked over to where Mac sat. Mac didn't even remember asking someone to call them.  
  
"What happened here, Mac?" AJ asked, noticing Mac's still-bloody uniform.  
  
"I had a lunch date with Mic. I told him I'd marry him, and just then Harm ran in." She sobbed, and tried to regain what was left of her composure. "He told me he loved me and asked me to marry him. But of course I'm engaged to Mic, so Harm leaves. For some reason, I follow him, just in time to see his car explode." Mac broke into tears.  
  
"Don't worry, Ma'am. The commander will be just fine," Harriet said, trying to console her friend.  
  
"No, Harriet. It's too late. Harm died on the way here. The EMTs tried to save him, but it was too late."  
  
Harriet sat down and let Mac cry on her shoulder while her eyes welled up with her own tears.  
  
  
THREE DAYS LATER--1030 ROMEO  
HARM'S FUNERAL  
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY  
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA  
  
Mac stood, still as a statue, behind Harm's mother, Trish Burnett, and between Bud and Mic. Mac felt that the warm spring morning mocked her pain. She would have felt a little more comfortable if the weather had at least tried to match the somber mood she knew everyone was in. When AJ, then Trish, each stood to deliver eulogies, Mac cried. She cried when four F-14s, flying in the missing man formation, flew over the ceremony, and she cried when seven Marines in dress blues, each volleyed three shots into the sky: a twenty-one gun salute. She berated herself gently for crying. Suck it up, Marine, she thought. Harm would have told her that she'd give the Corps a bad name is someone saw an officer crying. Just that thought set her to crying more. And she couldn't help but cry when the mahogany casket was lowered into the ground.  
  
  
After the ceremony, AJ consoled a heartbroken Trish and Frank, Harm's stepfather, while Mic kept up, rather poorly, a mask of sympathy, while he, rather equally poorly, consoled an equally heartbroken Mac, who stood at the rectangular scar in the ground which was now the final resting place of her best friend.  
  
"Beyond the shore...And the farther shore..." Mac started.  
  
"What was that?" Mic asked as he handed Mac a red rose. We met in a rose garden, she remembered.  
  
"A Catholic priest quoted it when my father died." Mac fought to keep her tears at bay.  
  
"Would you like to stay with me tonight?"  
  
"No, Mic, I just want to be alone with my thoughts tonight," Mac answered.  
  
"All right. I'll see you tomorrow. Just remember, you can't run to him anymore," Mic said as he left.  
  
Mac prepared to leave as well, but she kissed the rose and laid it on the marble tombstone. "Beyond the shore...And the farther shore...Beyond the beyond...Where there is no beginning and no end...Without fear, go."  
  
  
1963-2002  
HARMON RABB, JR  
CDR, USN  
PILOT, JAG LAWYER  
  
Though your body  
May be grounded  
May your soul  
Fly forever free  
  
  
TWO YEARS LATER  
FRIDAY--1730 ROMEO  
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY  
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA  
  
Mac stood, alone, at the very spot she had stood two years earlier, a January wind playing with her hair and uniform. She and Mic had married the October after Harm's death. Their daughter Harmony Rabb Brumby was three months old.  
  
"Hi Harm," she began, laying a single red rose on the cool grass. "I know I haven't been by in a while, but Harmony's so young. Did I tell you Mic about had a fit when I told him? We were so sure that she was going to be a boy, so we weren't even thinking about a girl's name. But Mic was in Australia visiting family when Harmony was born, so when I heard it was a girl, of course she needed a name, and for some reason I thought of you. So I named her Harmony Rabb Brumby. When I was finally able to call Mic, he was trying so hard to be civil." At least he remembers how much Harm means to me, she thought. "Oh, Harm," she said, her voice breaking as she fell to her knees. "I-I miss you so much! I thought I was learning to be happy with Mic, but I miss your smile, your voice, everything!" Mac was crying now, her face buried in the grass. Usually when the tears came, she tried so hard to keep them back, but this time, she let them fall. Night was falling, but Mac didn't care. During the past two years, she had kept her feelings bottled up inside, but the came, and the tears she cried caused her to sob uncontrollably, her shoulders shaking. After a while, she passed out.  
  
  
THE FOLLOWING MONDAY--0645 ROMEO  
  
A groundskeeper patrolled the cobbled walk, surveying the landscape, determining what work would need to be done that day. He was about to turn back to the groundskeeper's shed when he noticed a uniformed figure lying on the ground. He walked over and said, "Pardon me, but the cemetery's not open yet. You need to leave and come back in a few hours. When the figure didn't move, he moved closer and repeated his words. "Lady, you have to leave now. You can come back later." When she didn't move, he knelt next to her and rolled her over. There lay Mac, her face pale.  
  
***end part 3***  



	4. Chapter 4

Soulmates, Pt. 4  
For Disclaimers, see Part 1  
I apologize for the brevity of this chapter. Part 5 (AKA the Finale!) will be up soon.  
  
SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDST OF TIME AND SPACE  
  
Even though she didn't feel like she was asleep, Mac opened her eyes. She was strolling along a shimmering sapphire-blue sea, edged in fields of flowers, yet Mac felt as though she was everywhere and where she was all at once. Also, everything she saw, including herself, was engulfed in a semi-transparent white mist. Suddenly, a voice called out to her.  
  
"Mac, is that you?"  
  
Mac recognized the face, as perfect as it had been when they had first met. "Harm?"  
  
"Oh, Mac! I've waited so long to see you! How did you get here?"  
  
"I'm not sure. I was 'visiting' you in Arlington, and I don't remember what happened, but next thing I know I'm crying my eyes out into the grass, everything went black and then I got here. Oh no! If you're here, and I'm here, then either I'm dreaming again, or I'm...oh no! Harmony!"  
  
Harm stopped her frantic thoughts with a kiss. "Yes, Mac, you're dead, and 'here' is Heaven. And I'll tell you that little Harmony will be fine. Mic will remarry, and Harmony's stepmother will love her almost as much as you do."  
  
"Harm?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"How did I die?"  
  
"We're not allowed to discuss it much, but I'll tell you. The coroner will say you froze to death, but really, you died of a broken heart."  
  
"Harm?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Did you really love me?"  
  
"I did, and I do," Harm answered as he kissed Mac passionately.  
  
***end part 4***

AN: I guess you'll have to wait another week to find out! OK, I'll tell you what: If I get frantic reviews telling me you want to know what happens next, I'll post the next chapter early in the week instead of my usual Fridays, 'K?


	5. Chapter 5

Soulmates Part 5  
For Disclaimers, see Part 1  
  
SUNDAY-0945 ROMEO  
MAC'S APARTMENT  
GEORGETOWN  
  
Mac slowly opened her eyes to feel not Harm's warm, passionate kisses to her lips, but rather, the roughness of Jingo's tongue. Mac woke up quickly. "Aaack! Jingo! Get down!" Jingo quickly got off of Mac's bed. "It was all another dream," she mused aloud. Something inside her warned that she shouldn't brush it off so fast. Mac barely recognized that feeling. Usually the Marine in her pushed it away, but this time it was pushing back. The voice told her that the dream would be reality soon if she didn't act fast. Instead of pushing the voice inside away again, Mac listened. She picked up her phone and dialed Harm's number. It wasn't hard to remember: it was auto dial number one.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hello, Harm? It's Mac. Can you meet me at the Denny's near the beltway? We need to talk."  
  
"Okay. How's 1030? Do you want to meet there?"  
  
" I have a better idea. How about the Country Waffle down by Massachusetts Avenue? I'll pick you up and you can drive my 'Vette." Mac laughed. She could hear Harm practically salivating on the other end. She knew Harm missed his Corvette, so he relished any chance Mac gave him to drive hers.  
  
1030 ROMEO  
THE COUNTRY WAFFLE  
NEAR MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE  
WASHINGTON, DC  
  
As Harm drove, he thought what Mac wanted to talk about. Mac was praying for her resolve not to weaken.  
  
They were seated in an intimate booth. The hostess told them that the waitress would be by shortly. While they waited, Harm asked, "Mac, what was it that you wanted to talk about?" He was afraid it had to do with the ring on her right hand.  
  
"I'll tell you after the waitress comes. I don't want any interruptions." Mac tried to hide a smile, and her hands' movements as she carefully slid Mic's ring off of her right hand and slipped it in her pocket. She knew now. She loved him. Not just as a friend, but as much as she hoped he loved her back. At first this meeting was so she could stay the dream's occurrence, but that voice inside her had changed her heart. No, that voice was her heart, and it had changed her mind.  
  
The waitress had come, taken Harm and Mac's orders, and left. "OK, Mac, what was it you were wanting to say?"  
  
Mac took a deep breath. "OK, starting Thursday night, I have been having these dreams. I have just told Mic that I'd marry him. And, all of a sudden, you come over and tell me that you love me, and you ask me to marry you. But I'm engaged to Mic. But then, you die. The weird thing is, it's not really us. Thursday night, the dream took place in revolutionary times, and I had one Friday night, and it took place during the French Revolution. Then, at your apartment, I had a third dream. That one took place during WWII. That's why I had to leave. I thought you were supposed to be dead."  
  
"Just like me with you and Diane," Harm interjected.  
  
"Yeah. Then, last night, I had another dream. This one took place tomorrow at JAG. Tomorrow I have a lunch meeting with Mic, and that's where Mic and I were in my dream. I told him that I'd marry him. Just then, you rushed in and, you know, declared your love for me. But, of course, I'm engaged to Mic, so you left. But Palmer put a bomb under your car, and it exploded. You died in the ambulance. Two years later, I'm at Arlington, at your grave. I just started crying hysterically, and I think I passed out. And then a frost came in, since it was January, and I died. And then you and I were in Heaven, and then I woke up and called you."  
  
"I see. And why did you call me?" Harm asked.  
  
"Well, at first I wanted to see you and tell you to call in sick to work because Palmer is out and tomorrow if you go to work, you will die. But that doesn't matter. Because now I realize that I love you, and I want to be with you."  
  
"Oh, Mac!" Harm cried. "I have wanted to tell you for so long, but I wasn't sure what it would do to our friendship. It took me a while to realize it, but now I know," he said as he moved over from his side of the booth to the side where Mac was seated. Still unsure of what she might think, he asked, "May I kiss you?"  
  
She replied, "You never need to ask," and kissed him. Soon the waitress brought their orders and they spent the rest of the time eating and small-talking.  
  
  
MONDAY 0745 ROMEO  
JAG HEADQUARTERS  
FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA  
  
"You know, it feels kind of weird to walk into work knowing you might die should your 'girlfriend' go back to her ex-boyfriend," Harm remarked as he and Mac entered JAG Headquarters, and headed for Mac's office, because the shades were already down.  
  
"Don't worry. That won't happen. I do still need to keep my date with Mic. You know, that whole 'let him down gently' routine." Mac took her coat off. She had only worn it because it was rather unseasonably cold that morning.  
  
Just then, Harm heard his phone ring in his office. He quickly walked over and answered it. As soon as he hung up the phone, it rang again. After he finished, he returned to Mac's office. "The first call was DC General Hospital. Annette Greenberg died early this morning." He paused. "The second call was Webb. Guess who else died this morning from a car crash?" Without waiting for her to guess, he continued, "Clark Palmer. His car collided with another, and because of the all of the components of a car bomb he had in his car, it exploded."  
  
"So we charge O'Donnelley with murder two and vehicular assault along with DUI and assault..."  
  
"...And I never have to look behind me again." Harm said, smiling. Knowing Mac loved him had brought out the best in him. And now there was just one thing in the way of their eternal happiness...okay, maybe two, he thought.  
  
Harm picked up Mac's phone and dialed. "Tiner, would you please see if the Admiral is available?"  
  
"Yes, sir," Tiner replied. "Do you need to see him?"  
  
"Yes, Colonel MacKenzie and I," Harm answered. "We'll be right there."  
  
  
"Are you so sure this is a good idea, Harm?" Mac asked as they walked to AJ's office.  
  
"Look, I love you, and you love me, right?" Harm asked as he turned around and held her shoulder. The movement was subtle, his voice a whisper. The couple didn't want everyone to know yet. As Mac nodded slightly, he continued, "We discussed it last night. Wouldn't you rather have Admiral Chegwidden know first?" She nodded again. "Then, what better time than the present?"  
  
"Sir, Ma'am, the admiral is waiting for you." Tiner stated as Harm and Mac entered AJ's outer office.  
  
"Thanks, Tiner," Mac answered as Harm opened as Harm opened the door.  
  
  
"Good morning, Commander, Colonel," AJ greeted warmly. "Have a seat. What can I do for you?"  
  
"Well, sir, this," Mac said as she removed Mic's ring from her right hand. She had worn it so as not to arouse suspicions. She set the ring on AJ's desk. The ring made a small noise as it landed there. "I'm not marrying Mic. You've heard the expression 'If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with,' right? Biggest lie in the world, sir."  
  
"So what part do you play in this, Rabb?" AJ asked, matter-of-factly.  
  
"Sir, I love him," Mac interjected.  
  
"And I love her, too," Harm added.  
  
"And we wanted you to be the first to know we're 'together,'" Mac finished. Both she and Harm awaited AJ's response.  
  
"Well, I say it's darn near about time!" he said smiling. "Do you have any plans yet?"  
  
"Well, sir, I've wanted to do this for the longest time." Harm said as he took Mac by the hand and led her to the fireplace, which, due to the unseasonable cold, was burning brightly as Harm fished in his pocket and pulled out a small velveteen-covered box. "Sarah, I love you. You have been there for me when I needed it most, and even when I tried to push you away. You have made me so happy words cannot describe it. But there is one thing that would make me even happier." Harm slid the ring on Mac's left-hand ring finger. "Sarah MacKenzie, will you marry me?"  
  
Mac looked at this diamond. It glimmered and even glowed in the firelight, something Mic's ring had never done. His ring looked like a cheap imitation compared to the new ring that now sat on her hand. "Oh, Harm," she said as her mind raced. Why now? So soon? She thought. This isn't exactly how I wanted to tell Mic it's over. All of a sudden her heart told her mind to shut up, and just say yes. "Yes."  
  
"What?" Harm couldn't believe what he was hearing. Did she say yes?  
  
"Yes, Harm, I'll marry you!"  
  
AJ sat at his desk as the scene played out before him. Those two had finally seen what was in front of them for years.  
  
  
Outside AJ's office, Harm and Mac headed to Mac's office to call their respective relatives when AJ stood outside his door and called "ATTENTION ON DECK!" Everyone immediately froze and snapped to attention. "Thank you. Now I would like to give the floor to Commander Rabb and Colonel MacKenzie."  
  
AJ smiled as Harm and Mac blushed. There was a pause as everyone's attention turned toward Harm and Mac. Harm finally spoke up. "Well, since we have everyone here, the Colonel and I would like to announce our engagement."  
  
  
2200 ROMEO  
MAC'S APARTMENT  
GEORGETOWN  
  
Mac slid into bed. She fell asleep in no time, and this time, she could only dream about her fiancee. She smiled in her slumber.  
  
MEANWHILE  
JAG HEADQUARTERS  
FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA  
  
Mic's ring sat, undisturbed, on AJ's desk. A janitor, who was studying to be a jeweler at a nearby trade school, picked it up and examined it. He noticed the ring had no value, so he took it, figuring his ten-year-old niece would love it.  
  
THE END  
  
***Hooray! Finished! Look for a sequel to come in the future. I mean, now they gotta get married, right? And a heartfelt thank you to my loyal readers and reviewers. Love, Luck, and Lollipops, Madelynne 3


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